Hoboken Violated Civil Rights Act & Owes Attorney’s Fees

Last month, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that attorney’s fees may be awarded under the state Civil Rights Act in a lawsuit alleging that a municipality (Hoboken) violated a right created by state statute—the right to petition government. The city argued that the Civil Rights Act should be limited to cases of discrimination, but the court held that the Act is much broader and covers any violation of a statutory or substantive right.

The case is Tumpson v. Farina, and in a 4-2 decision, the majority held that the failure of a Hoboken city clerk to comply with the Faulkner Act (a state government-organizing statute) violated the New Jersey Civil Rights Act, which allows attorney fee awards.

A city ordinance involving landlord filing requirements gave rise to the civil rights-related litigation. A committee of Hoboken residents seeking to repeal the ordinance filed a petition to repeal with the city clerk, but it was refused because they didn’t have enough signatures. The residents got more signatures; however, the city clerk still refused the petition, claiming the petitioners had run out of time to file.

The committee sued, alleging that the clerk violated not only the Faulkner Act but also the New Jersey Civil Rights Act. After litigation, the petition eventually made it onto the ballot, but it was rejected by Hoboken voters.

The success of the petition, however, has no bearing on whether the committee had the right to file the petition. As explained by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, “a party who is not deprived of a right solely because he or she won in court is a ‘prevailing party’ for purposes of attorneys’ fees.”

The ACLU also stressed the importance of awarding attorneys’ fees in civil rights cases, “without which many such cases would never be brought, including cases like this addressing the fundamental right to petition government.”